For example, stainless steel for edged tools used in razors having a thickness of 0.1 mm or less is required to have high hardness and corrosion resistance. Consequently, 13% by mass Cr steel containing 0.5 to 1.0% by mass of C is often used. The present applicant has also proposed, for example, inventions of steel for stainless razors in JP-A-5-039547 (Patent Literature 1) and JP-A-6-145907 (Patent Literature 2).
It is noted that, for example, martensite-based stainless steel used in razors or the like is martensite-based stainless steel for edged tools which has been hot-rolled to a required thickness and subsequently subjected to cold rolling and annealing in a repeated manner. Then, for manufacturing edged tools such as razors, punching into a razor shape, for example, is performed. Therefore, the above-described martensite-based stainless steel for edged tools needs to have hardness of 270 to 360 HV.